After playing the last three World badminton championships, it must have been shattering for M.R. Arjun when his men’s doubles partner Shlok Ramachandran told him last year that he did not feel like continuing the sport.
The two had reached a World ranking high of 32 in 2018 but frequently kept slipping when they approached the 40th rung. So Arjun could understand his partner’s decision.
The 23-year-old from Kochi now has Ludhiana’s 20-year-old Dhruv Kapila as his new partner — an arrangement made by Indonesian Flandy Limpele who was the Indian doubles coach till March this year — and they have played five international tournaments together and have produced some fireworks too.
At the Asian Team Championships in Manila in February, the young pair came close to shocking Indonesia’s three-time World champions Mohammed Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, the World No. 2, in the semifinals.
“We were leading 15-11 and we lost the decider 21-23,” said Arjun in a chat with The Hindu on Wednesday.
“That was a bitter-sweet result. Had we won that match, India would have entered the final (the country had won the bronze). But that contest also gave us the confidence that we could play the top players well. Top-10 in the World ranking is now our long-term goal.”
But just when Arjun felt that he could make the most of his confident play and climb the rankings ladder quickly, came the global lockdown.
Though badminton training has not resumed at the national camp and at Gopi Chand’s Academy in Hyderabad, action has begun at the Regional Sports Centre here and Arjun is now back on court.
Arjun, who is currently ranked World No. 95 with Kapila, has set a target of getting into the top-50 by the end of this year and 30 by May next year.
But life is not easy for doubles players these days.
“With social distancing in place, the singles players will be first to get back to training at the national camp as soon as the lockdown is lifted in Telangana and I think it will start next month. The doubles camp could start by mid-June or July but things are not clear,” said Arjun, an officer with Indian Oil Corporation.
Clearly, Arjun is hungry to get back to tournament action.